Eyeglass case



R. M. DUGDALE EYEGLASS CASE Filed March 28, 1955 .Mme 9, 193.

Patented June 9, 1936 y UNITED STATES PATENT oFFlce EYEGLASS CASEApplication March 2.8,

4 Claims.

^ the lip sothat the front and end portions can be separately foldedinside the case. Indeed it is common practice tof provide two notches ateach end rof the lip.,l one at each front corner of the case and one ateach end of the case in line with the inside edge of the lip, thusdividing the margin of the blank into ve flaps to be folded inwardlyover the edges of the case, a wide flap Vat the front to cover the lip,a narrow flap at each end of the lip and a flap of intermediate widthextending from the rear edge of the lip along each end of the case tothe hinge. In covering the lip the narrow flaps are first folded overthe ends of the lip and the wide flap is then folded over the narrowflaps. Thus the wide and narrow flaps overlap at the ends of the lip,thereby producing small humps, and inasmuch as there is only onethickness over the intermediate portion of the lip the cover seats onlyon the humps, leaving a crack along the major portion of the lip. Notonly does this crack admit dust but repeated snapping of the cover toclosed position soon produces noticeable wear on the humps. Moreover,the edges of the Wide flap are exposed at the ends of the lip, therebyeither presenting an unsightly raw edge or, if the edge is folded under,exaggerating the effect of said humps by producing three thicknessesinstead of two; and inasmuch as these edges are at or near the end edgesof the case they are soon frayed and/or pulled loose in use.

Objects of the present invention are to eliminate the aforesaid crack,humps and exposed edges, and to provide a case in which the coveringextends smoothly and continuously over the lip and thence over the edgeof the case at the front and ends of the lip without wrinkles, joints oroverlapping.

The preferred mode of attaining these objects is to curve the end wallsinto conjunction with the front wall of the case so that the ends of thelip gradually taper in width, to employ a blank which is not notched andto fold the margins of the blank over the lip and edges of the casesmoothly and continuously without wrinkles or exposed edges.

1935, Serial No. 13,4118V (Cl. 20G- 6) For the purpose of illustration atypical embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanyingdrawing, in which:

Fig. l is a plan view of the lower half of an eyeglass case before thehinge is attached, a part of the covering material being broken away;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the blank of covering material;

Fig. 3 is a section on line 3 3 of Fig. l.; and

Fig. 4 is a section on line 4 4 of Fig. 1.

The particular embodiment of the invention chosen for the purpose ofillustration comprises a cupped sheet met-a1 case l having upturned endsand rear side edges 2 and 3 and a lip 4 extending along the front of thecase substantially in the plane of the upper edges l and 3 andintegrally joining the front and end walls at its front and endsrespectively. The hinge construction shown at the upper part of Fig. 1constitutes another invention which is independent of the presentinvention and which is therefore not described herein.

As shown in Figs. 1, 3, and 4 the case is covered with a sheet 5 offabric, leather or the like, the outline of the blank cover being shownin Fig. 2. This outline is generally similar to that of the case but thelower part 6 is somewhat extended to provide extra material for coveringthe lip 4. To apply the covering to the case the outside of the case isplaced against the blank and the margins of the blank are folded overthe edges of the case. As shown in Fig, 3 the portion 6 of the blankextends over and thence under the lip 4 and as shown in Fig. 4 the endmargins 1 of the blank extend downwardly along the insides of the endwalls of the case. While the covering may be secured to the case by anysuitable adhesive it is preferably attached by thermoplastic adhesiveapplied to the surface of the blank before the blank is applied to thecase, heat being applied to the blank in any suitable manner in theprocess of applying it to the case to cause it to adhere firmly to thecase.

In order to fold the covering material over the ends of the lip 4without wrinkles, joints or overlapping, the ends 2 of the case arecurved into conjunction with the front side of the case (the lower sidein Fig. l) so that the front to rear dimension of the lip graduallytapers at each end of the lip. In applying the blank to the case thecorners 8 of the blank are stretched obliquely toward the center of thecase as they are wiped over the corners of the case and they are thenironed down against the upper surfaces of the tapered ends of the lip,thereby compressing the covering material along lines extendinglengthwise of the lip and causing the aforesaid lines to curve inwardlyapproximately parallel with the curved corners of the case. Thecompression of the covering material over the ends of the lip takesplace chiei-ly near the inner edge of the lip and near thecross-sectional line 3-3 in Fig. 1, as indicated by the fact that theapproximately circular graining of the covering material is compressedinto more elliptical shape in this region. In ironing the coveringmaterial over the ends of the lip, with a small iiat-iron or othersuitable ironing device, the motion of the iron is preferably directedapproximately toward the center of the case in the general direction ofthe line 3 3 in Fig. 1.

It should be understood that the present disclosure is for the purposeof illustration only and that this invention includes all modificationsand equivalents which fall within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An eyeglass case comprising a hollow bottom having at the front aninterior lip meeting the end walls substantially in the plane of theirupper edges, the end walls curving into conjunction with the front wallso that the ends of the lip gradually taper in width, and a covering ofpliable sheet material having its edges folded inwardly over said lipand the end walls with the portion over said lip extending continuouslyover both the front edge and the curved end edges of the case withoutexposed edges of covering material at said curved edges.

2. An eyeglass case comprising a hollow bottom having at the front aninternal lip meeting the end walls substantially in the plane of theirupper edges, the end walls curving into conjunction with the front wallso that the ends of the lip gradually taper in width, and a covering ofpliable sheet material having its edges folded inwardly over said lipand the end walls with the portion over said lip compressed lengthwiseof the lip along said tapered ends so that the longitudinal lines ofsaid portion curve inwardly at the ends similarly to the curvature ofsaid end walls.

3. An eyeglass case comprising a hollow bottom having at the front aninternal lip integrally united with the end walls substantially in theplane of their upper edges, the end walls curving into conjunction withthe front wall so that the ends of the lip gradually taper in width, anda covering of pliable sheet material having its edges folded inwardlyover said lip and the end walls with the portion over said lip extendingcontinuously over both the front edge and the curved end edges of thecase without wrinkles, joints or overlapping on the upper side of thelip or at the junctions of the lip with the side and end walls.

4. An eyeglass case comprising a hollow bottom having at the front aninternal lip meeting the end walls substantially in the plane of theirupper edges, the end walls curving into conjunction with the front wallso that the ends of the lip gradually taper in width, and a blank ofcovering material having smoothly curving edges free from notches at thecorners and having its edges folded inwardly over said lip and the endwalls with the portion over said lip extending continuously over boththe front edge and the curved end edges of the case without exposededges of covering material at said curved edges.

RICHARD M. DUGDALE.

